


First Letters

by galaxystiel



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, First Crush, Love Letters, M/M, Secret Admirer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-26
Updated: 2016-02-26
Packaged: 2018-05-23 08:21:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6110662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galaxystiel/pseuds/galaxystiel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Someone is leaving little notes in Castiel's locker. It has to be a joke, right? Why would anyone pay attention to him?</p>
            </blockquote>





	First Letters

**Author's Note:**

> Amazing fanart by the wonderful [DestielKilledTheCat](http://archiveofourown.org/users/DestielKilledTheCat), you can find them on tumblr [here](http://varghulf.tumblr.com)

Cas almost overlooked the first one.

The folded yellow scrap of paper slipped through the slot in his locker had stuck to the inside of the door, and Castiel was in a rush to get to class. Thanks to Gabriel’s latest prank, which had disrupted his commute between classes, Castiel was running late to Calculus. He grabbed his book from his locker, and slammed the door closed. The force of the swing dislodged the folded note, causing it to the flutter towards the floor.

It was the movement that caused Cas to spot it, reaching out to pluck the paper from the air with a confused frown. It had come from his locker, but he didn’t recognise it. Forgetting all about class for a brief moment, he unfolded the paper.

**_Did you know that you’re beautiful when you smile?_ **

He flushed furiously, instinctively closing the paper as his heart thudded in his chest, blood rushing in his ears. Why would this be in his locker? Did he have a secret admirer?

Castiel glanced down at himself, at his beat up chucks, his faded jeans and stripy sweater and inwardly scoffed. What a ridiculous notion; he couldn’t believe he’d even entertained it. It wasn’t like he thought people held any animosity towards him; he wasn’t bullied or anything. He was just overlooked. For the most part, people looked through him like he wasn’t there at all. Sometimes the isolation was worse than if he was being bullied. No, the chances that anyone noticed him were slim. The note had probably been meant for someone else – they’d probably gotten the wrong locker.

Still, Cas was unable to resist peeking one last time at the note, smiling softly as he pretended for a short time it was meant for him. The bell startled him when it rang, loud and shrill, and Castiel shoved the note in his pocket as he sped through the halls to class as fast as he could without actually running.

He found the note again when he got home, and his hand tightened over it briefly as if to crumple the paper and toss it away, but he didn’t. It had been the highlight of his crappy day, so he slid the note inside his sketchbook. It might not have been for him, but he wanted to pretend a little longer.

 

* * *

The second note appeared the very next day.

Castiel didn’t think it was possible for anything to make him smile after the day he’d had. He’d worn his new sweater, navy with a pattern of yellow and black striped bees, and all anyone had done all day was laugh at him because of it.

He supposed it wasn’t cool to like bees, but Castiel didn’t exactly understand why. They were incredible creatures, so crucial to humanity. They couldn’t survive without bees – little hardworking insects that did so much more than simply produce delicious honey. Cas found them fascinating, and felt downcast the more people jeered at his clothing choices. He’d thought the sweater was cute, but now he wished he’d never bought it. Everyone seemed to think he was some kind of dork.

“Hey Cas, cool sweater.”

Castiel turned around to see Dean Winchester walk past, giving him a thumbs up and a crooked grin as he strode down the hall. If he hadn’t been holding onto his locker, Castiel’s knees might have given way at the sight of that smile aimed directly at him. He and Dean weren’t exactly friends, but they sat next to each other in Calculus and occasionally spoke to each other. Dean, captain of the football team, always seemed to pick him quite early on in gym class too, no matter what the sport was and despite there being better athletes. He was really nice, and Castiel often stared at him with longing.

“Th-thanks,” he stammered, but Dean was already gone, and Castiel fought the urge to bang his head against the locker door. God, people were right – he was such a dork.

Turning back to grab his book, Castiel’s eyes were caught by the folded yellow paper resting on top of his lunch. His heart skipped a beat and he looked around to make sure nobody was paying him any attention as he reached for the note.

**_Every time I think you can’t look any more gorgeous, you surprise me (I dig the bees)._ **

Castiel bit his lip, staring at the words scrawled on the paper. Unlike yesterday, when the letters had been neatly printed all in caps, this one was different. The comment about the bees was written in a different colour, messier than the first part. Almost as if they’d been an afterthought. Like someone had written this before seeing his sweater, or before everyone started making fun of it.

But all of that was an afterthought, because this note had made clear what the first one had not. These were actually meant for him. Someone was slipping compliments into his locker, but why? To make him feel good? That was working; Cas felt his day brighten significantly just from the flattering words. Maybe they had a crush on him? To call him beautiful and gorgeous wasn’t exactly platonic.

With a jolt, Castiel realised that he had a secret admirer, and he had absolutely no idea who it could be.

Tucking the new note into his sketchbook beside the first, Castiel picked up his lunch and closed his locker. For now, there was nothing he could do except wait and see if he got another note. He just hoped his admirer would give him some kind of clue as to who they were.

 

* * *

The third note made his friends suspicious.

Castiel had been walking around with a spring his step since the appearance of the second note, unable to stop smiling. He was constantly in a good mood, but was still puzzling over the identity of the person who had left the notes. He’d even made a sort of list as to who he suspected, but had managed to rule out almost everyone on it.

Some part of him still wasn’t sure that it wasn’t a joke, or just one of his friends trying to be nice. The rest of him was excited and flattered and felt special. It wasn’t something Castiel was used to, so he was having trouble hiding his happiness whenever he found another yellow slip of paper in his locker.

This one was just like the others, carefully folded yellow paper with a neatly printed message inside.

**_All I think about is your wonderful smile._ **

Castiel stared at the paper with a wide smile, deaf to the sounds of his friends coming up behind him.

“What do you have there, Cassie?”

Shocked, Castiel jumped, shoving the note into his locker and slamming the door. It was private, the notes were something he wasn’t quite ready to share – not even with Balthazar. Turning around, he gave a sheepish grin towards his friend, spotting Charlie right behind him.

“Nothing, it’s… nothing,” he mumbled, heaving his bag over his shoulder. At their looks of disbelief, he sighed and came clean. “Someone has been leaving notes in my locker.”

Balthazar scowled, folding his arms. “What do they say? Are they rude, darling? Because you should report them to the principal, or I can happily kick their ass if you know who it was…”

“No, they’re… nice notes,” Castiel flushed at the admission, feeling foolish that three simple pieces of paper had left him feeling giddy for the last few days. “They’re really nice, actually. The first one said I was beautiful. The second one said they liked my bee sweater. Just… compliments, you know?”

Charlie let out an almighty shriek of excitement, clutching onto Castiel’s shirt. “Cas! Who is it, do you know? Do you want me to try and find out? Oh-em-gee.”

“Shhh!” Castiel hissed, looking around the hall to find everyone’s attention now on Charlie, including Dean Winchester, whose locker was only a few down from his. “I don’t want everyone to know, Charlie, shut up.”

She had the good grace to look sheepish, lowering her voice and leaning in close. “Maybe they’ll ask you to the spring dance next week? Oh God, it’s so romantic.” She gushed. “It’s like something out of a movie, only with less focus on the Stormtroopers and more focus on the Han/Leia love story.”

Balthazar snorted. “And Cassie is Leia in this love story you’ve concocted?”

With a roll of his eyes, Castiel shook his head. “Don’t be dumb, you guys. Someone’s just being nice, that’s all. I mean… look at me. There’s no way anyone would actually be interested in me, I bet half the people here don’t even know my name.”

Still, he felt a brief flicker of hope in his chest that his admirer would reveal themselves and maybe ask him to the dance, but he knew better. As he walked away, he didn’t notice the way Dean Winchester was frowning at his textbook next to Charlie, having heard every word of Castiel’s lament.

 

* * *

The fourth note gave everything away (although Cas didn’t know it).

As always, it had been posted through the slot on the locker door and was just resting on top of his textbooks. They always appeared at different times of day, so Castiel never knew when the next one was going to be there. As a result, he always held his breath when opening his locker, wondering if a new note would be waiting for him.

He had math club after school with Charlie, so he hadn’t had a chance to check his locker since before fourth period. As such, he asked Charlie to stop for a moment while he checked his locker. Mentally, he realised he was getting far too attached to the notes, and when they inevitably stopped, he would be crushed. But he couldn’t help himself. After being more or less ignored since the start of high school, for someone actually paying attention to him was overwhelming.

Charlie seemed to guess why Cas wanted to stop at his locker, so she smiled patiently. “So who exactly are you hoping is sending these little love notes? Who do you think is the Han to your Leia?”

Her tone was teasing, like she didn’t already know about Castiel’s huge crush on Dean Winchester. But the idea was laughable, like the captain of the football team, the guy who could have anyone he wanted, would ever even look at a nerd like Castiel.

“You know who I want it to be,” he groused. “But I’ll eat my bee sweater if he ever looked at me twice. Honestly… I think I’d be happy with whoever it is. I just want to know, and I don’t recognise the handwriting.”

He opened his locker and smiled widely at the new note inside. Snatching it up quickly, he peeked at it, ensuring to hide it from Charlie so she couldn’t read it over his shoulder.

**_Never change, because you’re awesome._ **

“God, I wish I knew who it was,” Castiel moaned, feeling his heart flutter in his chest. “Whoever it is, they’ve made me smile for the best part of a week and I can’t even thank them.”

Charlie raised her eyebrows. “Let me see the notes?” She suggested. “Maybe I’ll recognise the writing. They might be in my classes instead of yours.”

Cas hesitated, unwilling to share the notes, but recognised the logic of Charlie’s words and pulled his sketchbook out of his locker. He slid the new note in beside the others, and handed it to Charlie. Her eyes widened as she read the notes.

“Someone clearly put a lot of effort into these,” she murmured, frowning at the handwriting to see if she recognised it, before stilling. Her eyes flickered between the notes and she let out a squeal that echoed around the halls. “OH. MY. GOD.”

Castiel’s eyes widened and he clutched at the sketchbook as if the answer was going to be written there, that somehow he would instantly know what Charlie knew.

“You know.”

She nodded with wide eyes, clutching at her chest. “But I’m not telling,” she grinned. “Not yet. If you haven’t found out by the end of school tomorrow, I’ll tell you. But I think you’re going to find out who it is soon enough.”

With a frown, Castiel pushed his sketchbook back into his locker. “How do you know that?”

Charlie shrugged and gave a wicked grin. “The notes told me. See you later, Cas.”

She put her headphones on and sauntered down the corridor with a spring in her step, leaving Castiel irritated and confused, wondering exactly how she knew who it was or that he would find out tomorrow.

 

* * *

The fifth note told Castiel everything he needed to know.

He checked his locker religiously after each period. If Charlie was so certain that he was going to find out today, then he would take her word for it. Somehow, she was never wrong. So he kept looking for notes, even gave Charlie his locker combination at her suggestion so she could check for him during lunch. He was desperate to know.

The whole thing made him antsy, his leg bouncing up and down all through Calculus, distracting Dean from his work.

“You okay, man?”

Castiel flushed, both at the question and the fact that Dean was directly addressing him, showing concern over his nerves.

“I… yes. Thank you. I’m fine,” he replied sincerely, doing his best to keep his leg still after that so he wouldn’t disturb Dean again.

By the start of last period, there had still been nothing in his locker. Castiel was disappointed, starting to lose hope that his admirer would reveal himself. Maybe they’d changed their mind, or had gotten bored of sending the notes. He didn’t understand.

It was with trepidation and low spirits that Castiel made his way to his locker at the final bell. His hand hesitated on the lock for a few moments before he shakily opened it. The first thing he registered was _red_ , the rose sitting on top of his text books. The second was the yellow note. Castiel picked up the rose first, admiring its beauty and wondering exactly how the hell that had gotten into his locker. Someone would have had to guess the combination… or gotten it from Charlie. She’d been in on it the whole time, conspiring with whoever was leaving the note.

The note. Castiel turned his attention to the yellow letter and his hand trembled as he picked it up. He hesitated, not even sure he wanted to open it, to preserve the mystery. But he wanted to know more than he was scared to look, so with trembling fingers he opened the note.

**_First letters._ **

Castiel frowned in confusion. First letters? Of what?

It took him a few seconds to register that it probably meant the first letters from each of the notes. That was how Charlie had managed to work it out, she was too good with codes and patterns, something she’d learned from her man hours glued to her computer. The errant thought was pushed aside as Cas reached for his sketchbook. He’d had read the notes enough times to know what they said by heart but he needed to check for his own peace of mind. His own heart began to thud in his chest as his eyes slowly flickered between the letters.

_D-_

_E-_

_A-_

Castiel’s breath hitched, his body stilling.

 _N_.

Dean. Suddenly feeling weak, Cas forced himself to look up towards the direction of Dean’s locker. Tentative blue eyes met hopeful green ones as Castiel stared at his admirer, first registering Dean’s wide smile, before noticing the banner in his hands.

**_Will you go the dance with me?_ **

It was only then that he noticed the hallway was silent, everyone staring between Dean and Cas with bated breath, waiting for his answer. The pressure was insurmountable, but Castiel barely noticed it. All he could see was the way Dean’s smile started to fade as Cas took too long to answer. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth and he grabbed a pencil from his locker, scrawling quickly on his sketchbook. Everyone stayed silent, watching and waiting.

When Castiel turned the sketchbook around to reveal the three letters accepting Dean’s invitation, everyone began to cheer, but Cas only had eyes for one person. He closed the gap between them, his lips meeting Dean’s with a rush of something that Castiel knew he would never tire of feeling.

**Author's Note:**

> [MY TUMBLR](http://blueeyedangel.co.vu)


End file.
